GEOGRAPHY, TRAVEL. ARCHITECTURE 



553 



sacred cities of Jerusalem, Hebron, Tiberias, and 

 Safed. 



Panama, capital of the republic of Panama, 

 capital of the department of the same name, on 

 the Gulf of Panama and on the Pacific coast of 

 the Isthmus of Panama. The city lies on a 

 tongue of land, across which its streets stretch 

 from sea to sea. The harbor is shallow, but af- 

 fords secure anchorage. Panama is chiefly im- 

 portant as the terminus of the interoceanic rail- 

 way, and also of the proposed Panama Canal. 

 Tlit- railway, which has been in operation since 

 runs across the isthmus from Panama to 

 Colon or Aspinwall on the Atlantic, and accom- 

 modates a large traffic. Population, 30,000. 



Panama, Republic of. Was formerly 

 a department of the Republic Colombia, and 



1 its independence on November 4, 1903, 

 and the government was established on Novem- 

 ber 13th. Its extreme length is about 480 miles, 

 and its breadth varies between thirty-seven 

 and 1 10 miles. The total area is 33,800 square 

 and the population about 400,000. The 

 inhabitants are of a mixed race, comprising 

 Spanish, Indian, and Negro elements, with a 

 small number of temporary immigrants from 

 nited States and Germany, and other 

 European countries. Chinese laborers are esti- 



at 2,000. The Indian element prepon- 



in the Cordillera region and towards the 



vhile there are about 40,000 negroes on 



lantic coast and inland, especially in the 

 neighborhood of the railway. Agriculture and 

 < an 1. -breeding are the leading industries, but 

 the climate is generally unhealthy. The soil of 

 Panama is of great fertility, and the climate 

 ea luxuriant growth of tropical vegetation. 



the whole area about five-eighths are un- 

 occupied, and of the remainder only a small 

 part is properly cultivated. The most important 

 product is the banana, which grows freely on the 

 lands adjacent to the Chiriqui Lagoon. In this 

 neighborhood the United Fruit Company (a 

 ! States company) has large plantations 



{X>rts annually from Bocas del Toro about 

 two and one-half million bunches of bananas, 

 worth about $700,000. Caoutchouc is collected 

 by the Indian* of the Cordillera, or is obtained 

 from trees planted by Europeans near the coast. 

 Coffee is grown in the province of Chiriqui, near 

 the Costa Rican frontier. In the province of 

 Cocl6 (Atlantic coast) there is one large agri- 

 cultural undertaking, begun in 1894, with < ier- 



ipital. Here about 75,000 cocoa trees, 



ee bushes, and 25,000 caoutchouc 



trees have been planted, and are now beginning 



: 1 return*, other products of the soil of 



Panama are cocoanuts, mahogany, and other 



copaiba, sarsaparilla, and ipecacuanha. 



rearing is carried on successfully in the 

 provinces of Chiriqui, Los Santos, Cod 

 Veraguas, and hi<|e-> form an important article 

 :>ort. Pearl fishing is earned on at the 

 If .f Panama, and at Coiba 

 Island to th. 1 HO exported 



to a considerable amount. I <>r the .! 



f the mineral resources of Panama little 

 has be- but there arc two mining com- 



panies now at work, on the Pacific and Atlantic 



On November 18, 1903, a treaty between the 

 United States and Panama was signed, provid- 

 ing for the construction and maintenance of the 

 Inter-Oceanic Canal. In this treaty. Panama 

 | granted in perpetuity the use of a zone five miles 

 I wide on each side of the canal route, and within 

 I this zone the exclusive control for police, judicial, 

 sanitary, and other purposes. For sub-city area 

 canals other territory was conceded, and for the 

 defense of the canal, the coast line of the zone 

 and the islands in Panama Bay were also con- 

 ceded. The cities of Panama and Colon remain 

 under the authority of the new State, but com- 

 plete jurisdiction was granted to the United 

 States in both the cities, and in their harbors in 

 all that relates to sanitation and quarantine. 

 In return for these grants the United States 

 paid $10,000,000 on the ratification of the 

 treaty, and will pay $250,000 yearly, beginning 

 after nine years. This treaty was ratified on 

 February 23, 1904, and in July, 1904, the pro- 

 visional delimitation of the boundaries of the 

 United States territory on the isthrqus was 

 signed. 



Panama Canal. Under the superin- 

 tendence of M. de Lesseps, a company was 

 formed in 1881 for the construction of a ship 

 canal, forty-six miles in length, across the Isth- 

 mus of Panama, mainly following the line of the 

 railway. The capital received up to June 30, 

 1886, 'amounted to 772,545,412 francs; and it 

 was expected that before the undertaking was 

 completed this would have to be nearly doubled. 

 The company, being unabled to proceed, was 

 compelled to go into liquidation, and H: 

 payment and all operations on the canal (from 

 March 15, 1889). In March, 1893, a further ex- 

 tension was granted for the organization of a 

 new company to take over the business; in 1894 

 a new company was formed, which obtained a 

 concession for ten years, extended in 1900 by 

 six years, so as to terminate in April, 1910. By 

 that time the canal, according to the annual 

 report of 1899, might be completed at a cost of 

 512,000,000 francs ($10,000,000). On January 

 4, 1902, the board of the company offered to sell 

 to the United States all their rights and property. 

 In view of this offer the United States Isthmian 

 Canal Commission recommended the Panama 

 route, and on January 22, 1903, a treaty was 

 signed whereby the United States would have 

 obtained a lease of the necessary strip of land 

 for 100 years, renewable at the pleasure of the 

 United States, but this treaty was in August, 

 I'.iiiii. rejected by the Colombian Congress. A 

 d treaty between the United States and 

 Panama was signed on November 18, 1903. 

 This treaty is closely associated with the separate 

 existence of the Panama Republic, and it- gen- 

 eral terms are given above, under the head of 

 " Govern n. The treaty between Great 



Britain and the United States, signed November 

 isth. and ratified ly the United States Senate 

 December 16, 1901, provides for the neutralisa- 

 tion of the inter-oceanic canal by whatever route 

 it may be constructed, ami for its use on equal 

 terms by vessels of all nations. In June, 1906, 

 it was decided that the canal should be of 



type. Sevni yean is the period estimated 

 for the oompl < Culebra section of the 



